By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune News Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

A GROWING rift among Junkanoo groups has cast uncertainty over who will manage this year’s parades, with the National Junkanoo Committee (NJC) claiming majority support and the Junkanoo Corporation of New Providence (JCNP) insisting its authority remains intact.

Youth, Sports and Culture Minister Mario Bowleg said yesterday that the NJC approached him after concerns were raised about the JCNP. He said the NJC conducted a poll, claiming a 19 to 2 vote in its favour, though The Tribune was unable to independently verify those numbers. Some groups did not participate in the poll.

Mr Bowleg added that the NJC already manages parades in the Family Islands and therefore has the experience and capacity to step in if needed.

Still, the minister stressed that government has not decided to let the NJC manage the parades or sanction two rival parades, calling such discussions premature.

The minister said he has submitted the NJC’s recommendation letter and report to the Attorney General for review to determine the way forward.

The dispute emerged after a note circulated across social media claimed Junkanoo could see “two shows for the price of one”, with groups split between the JCNP and NJC. The note listed groups said to be aligned with each side, but The Tribune was unable to confirm those claims up to press time.

JCNP chairman Dion Miller suggested a break among groups is likely, saying all groups will parade as part of one show even if judged separately.

“The JCNP groups will parade and the NJC groups will parade,” he said in an interview with Eyewitness News yesterday. “I suspect the NJC will have their parade, their judges and their parade management team, and the JCNP will have their judges and their parade management team as well. It’s undecided on who will parade first, but it will be one parade.”

Mr Miller suggested some of the groups breaking away did so because they repeatedly failed to meet JCNP’s qualifying standards. “Groups have not successfully competing in the past ten parades, quite a few in the number of them,” he said. “If you look at their complaints, a number of groups are saying that they have an issue with disqualification… meaning that they can’t reach the required or agreed upon number of participants, number of costumes, etc. So that is their chief complaint. I’ve also heard that they feel that they can’t be judged fairly.”

Redland Soldiers leader Philip Carey, who voted for the JCNP, described the situation as “chaos” and launched a blistering attack on the government.

“This government need to focus on what is going on right now,” Mr Carey said. “They don’t know about Junkanoo. I am fed up with them. This government doing all kind of stinking shit what they doing right now. Tell them they need to organise themself and fix themself. Tell them stay away from Junkanoo.”

The latest turmoil comes just weeks after the Davis administration released a draft National Junkanoo Authority Bill, which proposes creating a statutory body to oversee parades and funding. That bill has already drawn strong pushback from the JCNP, which accused the government of trying to strip it of its role.